3 Questions a Backrooms Sequel Could Answer (And 2 New Mysteries It Might Create)

The original Backrooms webseries was a cultural phenomenon. The A24 feature film was a record-breaking box-office smash. And now, a second movie is on the way, which could answer our most burning questions, while offering up fresh mysteries, too.

After the incredible success of Backrooms, it was inevitable that a sequel would get the green light. Kane Parsons will be back at the helm, and I’m sure his young, twisted mind will cook up even creepier and crazier storylines for the follow-up.

Here, I take a look at the questions Backrooms 2 really needs to answer, and some of the weird and wonderful directions it could go in to create even more hot topics of discussion among moviegoers.

What Really Happened to Mary in the End?

The fate of Mary was the driving force behind the final act of the first film, and while we do see her make it out of the titular maze, the Backrooms ending does throw her future into doubt once more.

Mary was taken into custody by the ASYNC Research Institute, a company determined to figure out the mysteries of the Backrooms. In a nutshell, they seem to imply that Mary knows too much to be allowed back into the real world.

We also see a distorted version of Mary in the Backrooms, slumped on a chair. Clearly, the strange realm has captured a snapshot of her and turned her into another one of its entities, and we could well see that variant in the next movie. Whether the real Mary joins the party or not, remains to be seen, but learning more about what ASYNC did with her has to be on Parsons’ mind at the very least.

What’s The Backrooms' Origin Story?

The biggest mystery of all is the origins of the Backrooms realm. How was it formed? Is it man-made or something oddly organic? And if it’s the former, who is responsible and why did they do it? 

In many ways, an answer to those questions is not something I particularly want or need, and Parsons may well feel the same. The ambiguous origins of his bizarre creation is a big part of the charm, and keeping it a secret is likely to be the way Parsons goes with it – unless the studio demands fans get some answers, that is.

However, ASYNC employee Phil does tell Mary that Cap'n Clark's Ottoman Empire is just one of many portals leading to the Backrooms, which means some semblance of an explanation has to be out there, somewhere. Based on the weird caveman we see in the Backrooms, it would seem ASYNC believe aliens are behind it all, but will that theory be proven correct?

What is ASYNC Doing in the Backrooms?

While the misadventures of Mary were thrilling, it’s the motives of ASYNC that really intrigue me. How does a company involved in MRI technology suddenly become embroiled in exploring a surreal liminal space? And what is the end goal of their research?

As with most corporations, the answer is more than likely money. Indeed, part of the immense lore of the original Backrooms concept is that ASYNC are mapping the realm in order to exploit the seemingly limitless space for the purpose of real estate and warehousing. On the one hand, that would solve a lot of the housing and overpopulation issues the human race is contending with. But, let’s not pretend ASYNC are doing this out of the good of their heart.

Given the ending of the first film, it would be logical to assume that ASYNC’s work will form the basis of Backrooms 2. Just how successful their colonisation of this parallel universe will be, however, is another matter.

Kane Parsons Must Introduce More Levels to the Backrooms

The iconic yellow hallways were always going to be the backdrop for Backrooms, but we’ve now been there and seen that (and got the t-shirt), so Parsons is going to have to level up and show us new sections of the Backrooms. Thankfully, he has a whole catalogue of creepypasta locations to dive into, as likeminded folk have been sharing their own liminal space stories online for years.

What we saw in the first movie is only the tip of the iceberg, and introducing viewers to new levels will be at the top of the agenda for Parsons when plotting out his sequel. The yellow hallways are often referred to as Level 0. Other standout levels include The Courtyard of Windows (Level 188), The Suburban Area (Level 94), and the cavernous, all-white Futuristic Halls of Level 15.

The hard part will be deciding which level is the most suitable for Backrooms 2 and how best to bring it to life on-screen. That sounds like a very fun challenge indeed.

Move Aside, Still Life Replicas – New Entities Are Coming

Obviously, one of the most exciting elements of Backrooms – and the original short film – is the entities that inhabit the liminal space. In the first film, we got what has been referred to as Still Life variants: distorted versions of real people that appear to capture their memories, inner demons, and trauma. Some of them are hostile, some of them are just as scared as Mary, though that’s largely down to the fact they’re being terrorised by the main antagonist of the film, Pirate Clark.

We know that Pirate Clark was captured by ASYNC employees and had become their test subject, with a glimpse of the monster on an autopsy table at the end of the movie. It would appear that this particular entity will not be back for the sequel, though the Still Life beings could still play a part.

Regardless, just like the different levels, Parsons has a wealth of different monsters he could tap into for Backrooms 2. Introducing new villains is crucial to keeping things fresh and ensuring the novelty of this liminal space horror doesn’t wear thin. Other entities Parsons could call upon include The Lifeform – also known as the Bacteria Monster – a gangly humanoid creature made up of coils and organic material. There’s also The Growth, an infectious vine-like fungal organism that corrupts environments and even other living beings.

The weirder the better, I say. If there’s one complaint I had about Backrooms, it’s that it played things a little bit too safe and didn’t lean into horror enough. Hopefully, now that Parsons has proved he can make this world work on the big screen, he will be given even more license to get really creepy with it.